Hebrews 4:13

P3451 Are you running on empty?

/ DVH

“For it is Christ’s love that fuels our passion and holds us tightly, because we are convinced that He has given His life for ALL of us. This means ALL died with Him, so that those who live should no longer live self-absorbed lives but lives that are poured out for Him—the One who died for us and now lives again. So, from now on, we refuse to evaluate people merely by their outward appearances. For that’s how we once viewed the Anointed One, but no longer do we see Him with limited human insight.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-16 TPT.

Our human insight will always be limited. Let’s always remember that the Lord is so much wiser than we are, that’s why we know we can trust Him. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” And in 1 Corinthians 13:12: “In the same way, we can see and understand only a little about God now, as if we were peering at His reflection in a poor mirror; but someday we are going to see Him in His completeness, face-to-face. Now all that I know is hazy and blurred, but then I will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now.”

We live in a place where we think we understand, and then … we don’t. Where stuff happens and it makes no sense. Where God is suddenly hidden from us – but in the next moment, we can be given a flash of insight and we think we know everything … but we don’t. Why not? We can’t. Our teeny tiny human minds, and self-preservation get in the way. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,”declares the Lord.“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9.

We simply cannot always understand the way the Lord thinks! That’s why we have His book! There are times where it seems like He is fighting us at every turn … but then we discover that this ‘fight’ was part of our growth process! At the end of the verse in 1 Corinthians 13:12 it says: “But then I will see everything clearly …just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now.” Did you get that? Here it is in another form from Hebrews 4:13. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before His eyes, and He is the One to whom we are accountable.”  He is telling us to reassure us, that HE ALWAYS SEES US … always.

At the top of the page I asked, ‘are you running on empty?’ This can happen when we get ahead of His plans. Or maybe we decide we don’t like His plans, and we like our plans a whole lot better, so we go off-roading. We can end up looking a lot like a modern car’s GPS system. Here’s an illustration: our car’s GPS system needs frequent updating. The-powers-that-be are continually making new roads, and they are eventually registered on the original computer guidance maps. But if we use one of these new roads we can appear to be flying over blank terrain. The road is not registered, so the guidance system goes whacko, and then it gives up! 

Hold on… I’m getting to my point and it has nothing to do with car navigation, and everything to do with our own life navigation. The thing that will short-circuit His processes in our lives, is our lack of trust in the fact that the road of our life may not be known to US, but IT IS known to HIM! Unless we are continually fuelled by our love for Jesus, and filled up daily on His Word, we can easily run out of love-to-give-away, and then the road ahead starts to become unclear!

Let yourself off the hook, none of us are ever going to fully understand His ways, by ourselves. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him?” But WE have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:16. There’s the answer! You and I have the same help Jesus had, the Holy Spirit and the bible and collectively – WE, together, the church, Christ’s body, has the Lord’s mind. Which is why our enemy continually tries to break churches up! People get cranky and they leave instead of working things out. That action has fragmented our collective knowledge of His goodness. And this is why we need to meet together, because – all by ourselves, we can be misled.

We need to relax into what He tells us in His written Word,  trust in His wisdom in our midst – and stop dividing other Christians into categories! Otherwise we will very quickly run out of fuel. We can be refuelled by His love for us, through others. This is why going to church is important, other people can input their insight into our lives. They can pray for us, and give us a word from Him.

We cannot afford to stop reading the Word of God to get to know Him and His ways. The bible is our heaven-sent manna to feed us spiritually every single day. It too, helps fuel our passion for Him. At the same time, the Holy Spirit gives us His GPS guidance to help us through the day ahead, even when the road in front of us is unclear, He knows the Way. Let’s remember that although the Lord can  give us, personally, insight, we still need each other. For encouraging prophetic words, kindness in an unkind world, and unconditional love when this world beats us up.

We can’t afford to run on empty. Our passion needs to be continually ignited by the bible, the Holy Spirit and each other.  Bye. 👋. 

P 3122 God sees.

/ DVH

In some places in the bible (Ezekiel and Revelation) all sorts of creatures are mentioned. They have eyes everywhere, in places we don’t even like to think about. To me this is a picture of the incredible depth of sight our Heavenly Father has – He sees ALL! Those creatures’ eyes mentioned in those books reflect Hebrews 4:13: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Our Heavenly Father knows what is happening in your life right now, how hard it is for you.

Nothing is ever hidden from Him. And as we walk through this life toward complete wholeness and holiness in Christ – that thought should not make us afraid – it should turn our hearts to the Saviour. We need to remember what Colossians 3:3 says:“For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God.” We don’t have to hide anything from Him when we choose to live our lives for Him. Let’s continually allow the Holy Spirit, to guide, correct and teach us His Ways, and continue to remain hidden by what Christ did for us. Because of what He has already done, we know that we can trust Him and His Word. 

This is why an intimate relationship with our Father is important. If we only give God importance in our lives according to our immediate needs, then we could eventually fall away. Because sooner or later our prayers will appear to be unanswered! Instead, let’s bow to the superior knowledge and sight, of the Great I AM. That knowledge is revealed in the bible. Our God sees everything, and He is a mighty JUST God – WHO LOVES US. If we sin, He already has an Advocate praying and pleading for us at His right hand. His own dear Son. Jesus is utterly trustworthy. He never held anything back from His Father in His entire earthly life, and He poured His life out for each one of us!

God’s measuring tools are not the same as ours. We cannot afford to use our own measuring stick, because we can end up deceiving ourselves with excuses … and blame. That’s why Christ came – to provide us with a Saviour Who has personal experience of His Father’s love. He showed us what obedience and humility looks like …and He had perfect confidence in His Father’s Word. On top of all that, He also had understanding about the pressures of this world! The Holy Spirit will reveal what is in our hearts to us, if we let Him. He knows everything. He gave us these scriptures and then lived them out in front of our eyes.

This why our bible reading needs to become more than just a cursory reading. We already know that it can become a diagnostic tool, and reveal to us our own hidden attitudes and actions. It also shows us the works He prepared for us to do, before we ever arrived here. Human beings like to fool themselves. We hide things, even from ourselves, because we don’t like to be wrong …instead we can end up blaming others.

Exhibit A … Genesis 3:12. Adam blamed GOD HIMSELF. “… the woman YOU gave me … ” Hiding ourselves from Him is foolish, and we are only fooling ourselves. We are like little children, who love to play hide and seek, they have no comprehension that the person who is seeking — is not really gone! God knows and sees exactly where we are and what is really going on.

In Ezekiel there is another example of what God knows and what man doesn’t. Most of us know this story so I will just give a brief overview today. The Holy Spirit whisked Ezekiel away in the spirit, to a valley filled with skeletons – dry bones. And then He talks to Ezekiel about them. These people are totally DEAD. The scene is a powerful picture of what life without Almighty God, and Jesus Himself looks like. Important people come and go in this life – famous ones, clever ones, but, in the end – we will all end up dry bones. But, because God sees and knows all, it doesn’t have to stop there!

The Spirit reveals to Ezekiel that valley of utter, permanent destruction, seemingly permanent oblivion. But God can see potential even in dry bones. He can raise up an army from a valley that has only known death for years!  Ezekiel 37:9.“Then Yahweh said to me, Prophesy to the breath. Yes, prophesy, son of man. Say to the breath, ‘Lord Yahweh says: Divine breath, come now from the four winds. Breathe on these lifeless bodies, so that they can live again.’The Holy Spirit asks Ezekiel a hard question in this chapter: “Can these bones live?” Verse 3. Ezekiel is no dummy — He gives a GREAT answer, filled with humility and hope! “…only YOU know Lord…” Then the Mighty Spirit of God commands the prophet to prophesy and command life to come back to those bones again!

I want to encourage everyone who has loved ones who-don’t-know-Jesus-yet — or loved ones who have wandered away — to be like Ezekiel — speak His life to the dry bones. God has given us the power to shift things that appear to be fixed. Sometimes situations like these, loom over us like huge mountains in our lives. But Jesus once said: ‘Speak to the mountain and tell it to move.’  The Lord once told the sea to be still! Prophesy to the Divine breath – the Holy Spirit. Let’s start praying for our friends and families: “Holy Spirit come. Breathe on these empty, lifeless bodies so that they know true life as His children, and become part of His army.”

God sees and knows what is happening around you. Sometimes instead of lying down under circumstances, we need to stand up and prophesy what God says: “And consider the example that Jesus, the Anointed One, has set before us. Let His mindset become your motivation.” Philippians 2:5 TPT. Amen. Bye 😘💨💨💨

P 3006 God always has a bigger plan!

/ DVH

John 18:10-11: “Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?”

There are times in our lives when we have a very painful  cup set before us, just like our Lord Jesus did. At those moments, it seems horrendous to even contemplate accepting that vessel  —- let alone drinking from it! Yet in this verse the Lord defended that cup to Peter. It was the one He knew His Father wanted Him to drink. In the light of the cross, we can clearly see the purpose that Almighty God always had on the other side of this awful ghastly time … mainly because we have the benefit of hindsight – and we have the book!. 

But in our everyday lives it is much harder to comprehend what has sometimes been set before us. Our natural instinct is to fight the idea that we are meant to eat and drink some of the things the Lord has allowed to impact our lives. I’ve heard people say: “God would never ask me to do such a thing!”“ I thought that you said God is good – why would He ask me to live through this?” My short answer is this: because He asked it of His Son, first. 

The reality is this, in order for us to be like Jesus, we need to choose to follow the Lord, step by step through the troubles and tribulations of this life, because at the same time we are learning to live resurrected lives. In the presence of death, a resurrected life shines so brightly. However, the bible also tells us we will have times of triumph when we tell trouble and strife to get out of our way! Sometimes we resist, and trouble flees, and sometimes we quite simply need to go through. 

Dying to self is painful, it is utterly impossible without the Holy Spirit’s Presence in our lives. And we cannot live in the fullness of the Christian life without Him. You can’t have a resurrected life without death first! There may be times we are simply asked to contemplate drinking the cup of suffering, and in those times, we learn to yield — but at other times we cannot escape, the only way forward is to walk into the valley of the shadow of death.

However that situation comes upon us  – we need to keep walking through it. He will walk with us, and He asks us to walk through any hardship, and even the kind of destruction that looms against us. HOWEVER – satan cannot design one thing that can bring forth life … But even death itself, under the Lord’s watchful, passionate eye, brings LIFE and more life in abundance. Sometimes the way to get more life is to die!

Acting like Peter did, when he sliced off that soldier’s ear, is the same as taking difficult matters into our own hands. When the Lord does not give us personal intimate instructions, we always have access to His book filled with the Way He wants us to respond. However, cutting off someone else’s ear for retribution and defence — is not the way forward. Anger breeds more anger, revenge breeds more revenge, and hatred and violence breed an even greater desire for the kind of hatred that can lead to murder! 

God always has a bigger plan than we do. Think about it. Do we think that the Lord has ever said: ‘Whoops, I missed that one!?’ We all know that His timing is perfect, even in the worst possible times. Now, hold onto your hat —- here’s a verse that nobody likes much: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.”  Psalm 116:15:  I’m pretty sure nobody has ever stitched verse that onto a sampler and hung it up on the wall.

However, if you have lost someone dear to you, then this verse is also not the kind of verse that will comfort you instantly. Instead remember and comfort yourself with the thought that Mary and Martha couldn’t not see the bigger reality when Lazarus had been dead 3 days. We can all falter under that kind of pressure. Their faith was in Jesus doing something about the situation before things got to that stage, but Jesus’ aim was to glorify God through what happened. We need to go past the immediate situation, remembering He is good.

Even in terrible things like death, our response is often about US — our loss, our feelings, our idea of what God should do. When these things happen we have an opportunity to transform our minds by remembering that: “He knows about everyone, everywhere. Everything about us is bare and wide open to the all-seeing eyes of our living God; nothing can be hidden from Him to whom we must explain all that we have done.” Hebrews 4:13.

Lazarus’ sisters, two women who both followed Jesus, could only see their terrible loss. Death takes us all by surprise, even if it is expected. However it can also be swallowed up in the kind of victory that expands our view of God Himself. Sometimes the hardest thing to remember in times of trouble and strife, is the fact that God  has a much bigger far-more-wonderful-than-we-can-ever-imagine, plan.

Especially when hardship does not disappear quickly. Our biggest challenge in those times is to remember that He’s a good God, and He will walk us through these things. Faith continues to grow when we trust Him in that dark valley. My prayer for all of us is that we can continue to walk, no matter how slowly, using our faith, and reminding ourselves that our Saviour is always right there with us … even when grief clouds our sight. Bye. 😢

P 2730 SSSSSSHHHHHH!

/ DVH

Psalm 91:1,2. RSV.“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”TPT.“When you abide under the shadow of Shaddai, you are hidden in the strength of God Most High. He’s the hope that holds me and the stronghold to shelter me, the only God for me, and my great confidence.”

Here we have two different versions of the same two verses. This psalm is my all-time favourite one – many people love it like I do! These verses tell us where we can live – they point to a place of great safety and security.  Absolutely everything else that is in this fabulous Psalm hangs on those two highlighted words. “Dwell and Abide.” We can learn to be spectators, protected by God’s shadow over us, and nothing can touch us there, unless He gives it permission. 

The bible has some of the best kept eternal secrets known to man. Forget Indiana Jones … that’s a whole lot of made up rot! These verses are about a real treasure, a place that belongs to YOU and me. Nobody else can keep us from this treasure because it hinges on our own choices.  It is our birthright! When we live there we allow the Saviour to rule absolutely every aspect of our lives. He is no longer an after-thought, or even a place we like to go that blesses us and makes US feel good … instead we have fallen so much in love with Him, we want HIM to know how much we love HIM… so we keep nothing from Him.

Christians don’t have to live subject to this world anymore, we can live our lives safe and secure in His secret place. No more struggling with the pettiness, greed, vainglorious ideas, rage, and strife because we have a place to live permanently, and Jesus died to give it to us. No-one else can take this treasured secret place away from us — however we can forfeit our rights to live hidden, if we undervalue His Presence, His will, His way. Jesus Himself lived in that place while He walked this earth, and … He voluntarily gave it up, when He chose to come out of that safety and contentment to fulfil His calling. BUT! He went right back in there FOREVER when He had finished His appointed mission. He’s there now, waiting for us.

These two verses are not metaphorical. This is a real place, and not many people find it, and choose to live there. To live like this we must choose to die to this life and all it seems to hold, and live for Jesus’ sake instead. That means we go wherever He takes us and let Him take away whatever He likes. At the same time He will give us whatever He thinks is best for us. I call that way to live – TRUST.  We allow Almighty God Himself to be our only security and safety, and spurn this world’s idea of comfort etc. And so we choose to live this life, the only one we have! … His Way. The Way the Holy Spirit describes in the bible.  

We leave behind the grabby, spiteful, greediness, and vanities of this world to live in a place where we care more about other people’s needs than our own. Some of us will die fulfilling that calling — it is a very serious choice —  choosing to live this life dead to what we want and alive to what He wants! However, this is a place of absolute safety – nothing happens there unless He allows it – so we know we will walk through the difficulties with the Lord by our side.  We can no longer be tossed about by the winds of doctrine or change. Like the Apostle John, who was put in a pot of boiling OIL — he simply prayed… When they fished John out again, there was not a mark on him!

Why? He was a spectator, not a participant!  He was safe in God’s secret place. However, he WAS put in that oil and if he had taken the time to notice that he would have been burnt to death. THE MAN’S FOCUS WAS ELSEWHERE.  He simply walked with Christ and that was enough. “He loved not his life unto death …” Just like Jesus did. That’s what following Jesus really means – we choose to die and He lives through us. We choose to love our enemies and that drives them crazy … or it changes them.

Sometimes the darndest secrets are hidden in the bible. You read it and think …’well blow me down, who knew that was in there?’ It’s not an ordinary book. If someone tells me that God told them that He was going to make them rich … I smile politely and walk away laughing inside. I am rich already. My money is in His bank! Nobody can pinch it there. I give where He says I should without blinking. If I need something, then I ask my Heavenly Father, He owns the cattle on a thousand hills –  He’ll just sell a cow!  

Living in the secret place means we are hidden in His strength, learning to roll with life’s punches because He is protecting us, and we trust Him implicitly. Ssh! The secret is out. Who wants to be a spectator, who wants to live to do what He wants? 👋